EP 1035995 A1 2000-09-20 - VEHICLE DRIVE WHEEL ASSEMBLY

Title (en)

Title (de)

Title (fr)

Publication

Application

Priority

US 9826418 W 19981210

US 6909997 P 19971211

US 7446898 A 19980508

Abstract (en)

[origin: WO9929561A1] A vehicle drive assembly with a motor (30) configured for driving the vehicle through a rotatably driven motor shaft (38). A first swing arm (10) has a first end (19) housing the motor and a second end (15) pivotally attachable to a vehicle body, with an elongated portion (11) joining the ends of the first swing arm. The vehicle drive assembly also has a gearbox housing (46) configured for transmitting torque to a road surface through a road engaging member, and a transmission (48) directly engaged with the motor shaft (38) and housed within the gearbox housing. The transmission (48) transmits torque from the motor shaft (38) to the gearbox housing (46). A second swing arm (12) is pivotally attachable to a vehicle body. An axle (74) is fixed to the second swing arm (12), received within the gearbox housing (46), and attached to the transmission (48) such that the second swing arm (12) is supported by the transmission. The transmission (48) preferably includes a planetary gear reduction unit with a fixed gear carrier (54) rotationally fixed to the first swing arm (10), and a plurality of gears (52) operatively associated with the motor shaft (38) and the gearbox housing (46) to transmit torque therebetween. Preferably, at least one of the gears (52) is mounted to the gear carrier (54), more preferably a plurality of the gears are mounted to the gear carrier.